Everyone has a closet like this one. You know the type. It's packed from floor to ceiling, and you're thankful you don't have to get in there very often. Out of sight out of mind.

Eventually, though, you have to face it.

And that's exactly where I am. Taking these two pictures of each side of this storage closet pretty much made me want to throw up. As much as I've gotten rid of stuff, this is one area I had not touched until today.

Why? Pretty much because I was afraid. It's like a black hole, and I know it's going to take a long time to go through stuff. There are boxes of memories. In fact, I already wasted time reading a journal from when I was 15. That journal is 34-years-old!!! I was cracking up at some of the things I wrote about and the words I used to describe what was happening in my life at that time. I was reconnecting with my 15-year-old self, and as much as I was having fun, it completely derailed me from my task.

That's precisely why I've been putting off going through this closet. Not only are my memories in there, but there are things that belong to my husband, and there's a ton of stuff from our kids we kept over the years. While none of us have looked at any of this stash and haven't missed a thing, it's still a part of our past and sometimes that's tough to let go. There's a part of me that would just like to take it all out to the garbage and/or recycling without looking at any of it. But I just can't. I need to go through it.